SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATIONS IN BRAZIL IN THE 20TH CENTURY:

FROM THE FORMATION OF THE LABOR MARKET TO THE STRUGGLES FOR LABOR RIGHTS

Abstract

The history of post-abolition Brazil reveals a complex scenario of social and economic transformations that maintained forms of exploitation and inequality. The transition from slave labor to free labor was marked by foreign immigration to meet agricultural demand, especially in the Southeast, where coffee cultivation predominated. However, extrajudicial coercion persisted, mainly in the form of debt labor, restricting worker mobility. Italian immigration was seen as a solution, while national workers were marginalized and stigmatized, reflecting prejudices and remnants of the slave system. With industrialization and urbanization, segregation between Brazilian and foreign workers continued, marked by super-exploitation, low wages, and inhumane conditions. Labor resistance, influenced by European anarchism and socialism, faced political and economic repression, limiting achievements and rights. The Revolution of 1930 brought state intervention in trade unions and labor relations, aiming more at social control than the promotion of labor rights. Capitalism in Brazil followed a "conservative modernization," maintaining socioeconomic inequalities and excluding subordinate classes from social change processes. This study, through a bibliographic review of authors such as Kowarick, Prado Jr., Dedecca, and Oliveira, examines the configurations of labor and labor struggles in Brazil from post-abolition to the 1988 Constitution.